Lifting tool



May 27, 1924. I

A. HOFFER LIFTING TOOL Filed May 23illlllllllIHIIllIllllllllllllllllllllllllll! INVENTOR I 47Fr'eal HoffenATTORNEY Rochester, in the county of Monroe and Fatented May 27, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

LIFTING TOOL. I

Application filed May 23,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALFRED HorFER, a citizen of the United States,residing at btate of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Lifting Tools, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of this invention is to provide a tool with which concreteblocks or any other similarly shaped building'blocks maybe convenientlyand readily lifted and prop-' erly placed in erecting a wall.

This and other objects of this invention will be fully illustrated inthe drawing, described in. the specification and pointed out in theclaims at the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the lifting tool as it will appear whenattachedtoa' concrete block for the purpose of lifting the block, theblock being illustrated in section.

Figure 2 is atop plan view of the lifting tool and the concrete block towhich the tool is attached, the concrete block being partly broken away.7

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of one of the handles of the tool,the section being taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure1 illustrating in a top plan view the inner ends of the clamping orgripping levers of the liftin tool.

igure 5 is a vertical sectional view. through the adjusting mechanismfor operating the clamping levers of the lifting tool.

through one of the gripping shoes provided at the outer ends of each ofthe clamping or gripping levers.

In the several figures of the drawing like reference numerals indicatelike parts.

In building walls with concrete blocks it is very diflicult to lift andproperly place The lifting tool forming the subject matter of my presentinvention will make the handling of such concrete blocks considerably*easier in that when attached to the block it provides a handle for theblock by means of which two men or even one man is able to lift andplace the heavy concrete block onthe wall without any great exertion.

As illustrated'in the drawing, the lifting Figure 6 is a verticalsectional view 1923. Serial No. 640,973.

tool comprises the horizontal bar 1 having the handles 2 and 3 formed ateach end thereof. Besides thehandles the horizontal bar is provided witha pair of feet 4 and 5 that form suitable supports for the lifting tooland serve to align the horizontalbar with relation to the top of theblock to which the lifting tool is to be attached. The horizontal bar,its handles and supporting feet are preferably cast'ofmalleable iron andthe top of the bar and its handles'are partially channeled to keep theweight of the lifting tool at a minimum without decreasing the strengthor stifi'nessthereof. At the outer end of the handles 2 and 3 adepending projection is-formed' against which'the hand rests whenpulling the handle to one side to prevent the hands from slipping offthe end of thehandles. l

- The'supporting feet 4 and 5 as illustrated in Figure 3 are eachprovided with a pair of angularly projecting flanges '6 and 7 which forma wide base for the lifting tool to rest on and hold the tool inproperalignment'for the gripping or clamping levers to grip the concrete blockas will presently be described. At 8 and 9 the horizontal bar 1 isslotted to receive the clamping levers 10 and 11. These clampingleversare angular in outline andare pivoted in the slotted portions 8 and 9 ofthe horizontal bar on the pivot pins 12 and 13 that pass through the Iclamping shoes 14 and 15 respectively.

These gripping-shoes are made with serrations 16' on the gripping face.-On the back of the shoes are provided two lugs. The shoeis' slottedbetween the lugs. Suitable bearings are provided in the lugs for thepivot pin carried on the end of the gripping leversso that the'shoe canswing thereon. A flat spring 18 is fastenedjto the back of the shoe andexerts a pressure against the rounded end of'thegripping levers; Theshoes are thus held against "easy rotation and this serves to keeptheshoes somewhere near the proper position for gripping from which theywill be forced into their final gripping position when the grippinglevers pins and a cotter pin projecting force the shoes against theinner walls of the concrete block and align themselves with the wallthereof.

The inner ends of the angular gripping levers 10 and 11 are flattenedout and overlap each other. The flattened end of, the lever 11 overlapsthe flattened end of the lever 10. In these flattened ends of the levers10 and 11 are provided elongated holes through which the clamping bolt19 passes. This clamping bolt projects up through. a suitable hole inthe horizontal bar 1 and has a clamping nut 20 threaded to the lower endthereof on the under side of the bar 1. On the upper end of the clampingbolt 19 is formed an eye 21 carrying the stud 22. A cam lever 23 ispivoted on the stud 22 and the cam. formed on this lever: is: adapted torest on top of the flattened end of the gripping lever 11 on eitherside'of the elongated hole 30 provided in this end of the lever.

An expansion spring 24; surroundsthe clamping bolt 19 and is interposedbetween the horizontal bar 1 and the under side of the flattened end ofthe gripping lever 10. This spring normally forces the flattened ends ofboth of the gripping levers upwardly so that the flattened end of thegripping lever 11 is forced against the periphery of the cam of the camlever 23.

The cam surface of the cam lever 23'is eccentric, to the pivot of thecam lever. and on swingingthe lever from its: dotted line positionillustrated in Figure 1 to the full line position thereof the innerflattened ends of the gripping levers 1O andll are forced down againstthe pressure of the spring 2 1 and at the same timethe lower ends ofthese levers with its gripping shoes 14 and 15 are forced outwardlyagainst the end walls of the concrete block. This grips the concreteblock from the inside and rigidly clamps the lifting tool thereto sothatthe block can be lifted by means of the handles 2 and-3 of the liftingtool.

In fastening the lifting tool to a concrete block the tool is placed inthe middle of the top of the concrete blockso that itssupporting legssupport the ho-rizontalbar on top of the concrete block. When this isdone the cam lever is swung from the dotted line position to the fullline position as illustrated in Figure 1 with the result that thegripping shoes are forced outwardly against the end walls ofthe concreteblock. The lifting tool fastened-to the block in this manner providestwooverhanging handles on the block by means of which one or two workmencan handle the block in a much more convenient manner than is possiblewithout this lifting tool..

The gripping mechanism is adjustable :to engage larger or smallerconcrete blocks having larger or smaller openings in the the end wallsthereof as above'pointedout.

I claim:

1. A lifting tool for building blocks having an open center, comprisinga handle, a pair of gripping levers pivoted on said handle and havingthe lower ends thereof extending down into the block the upper endsof-said1lever=overlapping each other, means for swinging the overlappingends of said levers at the bottom and forcing them into contact with theinner surfaces of the end wall of the blocks;

2. A, lifting, tool for building blockshaving an openwcenter, comprisinga handle, a pair of gripping levers pivoted on said handleand;eXtendingdo-wn into the block, means for spreading said levers atthe bottom andlforcing them intocontact with the inner surfaces of theend wall of the blocks, shoes on the. lower ends of said levers.

3. A lifting tool for building blocks havingan open center, comprisinga. handle, a pair of gripping levers pivotedlon-said handle and havingthe lower ends thereof ex tending down into the blockthe upper'ends ofsaid lever overlapping each other, means for swinging the overlappingends of said levers atthe bottom'and forcing them into contact withthe'inner surfaces of the end Wall of the blocks, said means: beingadjustable to increase or decrease the swingingiof said grippinglevers;-

l. Aliftingtoohfor building blocks havingantopen centercomprising ahandle hav ing slots therein, a pair of gripping levers mounted to swingin said slots with the upper ends overlapping-each other and the lowerends extending down into-the block, means located at the upper end ofsaid levers for rocking said levers and forcing the lower ends thereofinto contact with the inner surfaces of-the end wall of the blocks. 5.In a lifting tool=for building blocks, the combination of a bar, handlesformedon the end of said bar, said bar being slotted at. intermediatepointsthereof, gripping levers mounted to swing'in the slotted portionsof said bar, said gripping levers hav ing gripping shoespivoted on theouter'ends thereof, a friction: spring carried by each ofsaidgrippingshoes and'iadaptedto engage the ends ofsaid gripping leversto hold said grippingshoesin a predetermined position on the end ofsaid'gripping levers, the inner ends of said gripping levers overlappingeach other, said overlapping inner ends of said gripping levers havingelongated holes provided therein, a clamping bolt projecting up througha hole in the middle of said bar and passing through the elongatedopenings in the overlapping ends of said gripping levers, an eye formedon the upper end of said clamping bolt, a pivot pin carried in said eye,a cam mounted to swing on said pivot pin, the periphery of said cambeing adapted to rest on the upper one of the overlapping ends of saidgripping levers, an expansion spring interposed between said bar and theoverlapping ends of said gripping levers to normally hold saidoverlapping ends in contact with the periphery of said cam, an adjustingnut threaded to the lower end of said clamping bolt said adjusting nutbeing adapted to adjust the initial position of said gripping shoes bylengthening or shortening the length of the clamping bolt that projectsabove said bar.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALFRED HOFFER.

